Head of Customer Facing Applications

Job Description: Head of Customer Facing Applications

Department: Information Technology / Digital

Role Summary

The Head of Customer Facing Applications owns the strategy, delivery, and performance of every application customers touch: mobile apps, web portals, booking and ordering platforms, payment flows, and self-service channels. The role combines product thinking with engineering and vendor leadership to deliver a fast, secure, and consistent digital experience that grows adoption, revenue, and customer satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities

1. Digital Product Strategy and Roadmap

• Define the multi-year roadmap for customer-facing applications, aligned with business goals and customer journeys.
• Prioritise the backlog using customer data, business impact, and technical feasibility.
• Partner with business, marketing, operations, and customer service heads to turn requirements into product outcomes.
• Run discovery, A/B testing, and feedback loops to validate features before and after release.

2. Application Delivery and Engineering

• Lead design, build, release, and enhancement of mobile (iOS/Android), web, and portal applications.
• Own architecture standards: API-first, microservices, headless/composable approaches, and reusable components.
• Run agile delivery with clear sprint cadences, release management, and quality gates.
• Oversee QA, test automation, and CI/CD pipelines for fast, safe releases.

3. Customer Experience (CX) and Design

• Own UX/UI standards and design systems for a consistent experience across channels.
• Track journey metrics such as conversion, drop-off, task completion time, app ratings, and NPS/CSAT.
• Drive accessibility (WCAG), localisation, and multi-language support.
• Use analytics and behaviour tools to find friction and prioritise fixes.

4. Integration and Platform Ownership

• Ensure seamless integration with core systems: CRM, ERP, core operational platforms, payment gateways, and communication services (SMS, WhatsApp, email, push).
• Manage API gateways, authentication/SSO, and third-party integrations.
• Support omnichannel consistency across app, web, call centre, and in-person touchpoints.

5. Performance, Reliability, and Support

• Define and meet SLAs for availability, latency, and scalability, including peak-load readiness.
• Work with infrastructure and DevOps teams on monitoring, observability, and incident response.
• Own L2/L3 application support, root cause analysis, and problem management.
• Maintain disaster recovery and business continuity for customer-facing systems.

6. Security, Privacy, and Compliance

• Embed security by design: secure coding, VAPT, OWASP controls, and API security.
• Ensure compliance with the DPDP Act, PCI DSS for payments, ISO 27001, and sector regulations as applicable.
• Manage consent, data privacy, and data retention in customer applications.
• Close audit and vulnerability findings within defined timelines.

7. Data, Analytics, and Innovation

• Build a data-driven culture with dashboards for adoption, engagement, funnel, and revenue metrics.
• Enable personalisation, recommendations, chatbots, and AI-driven features where they add value.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend pilots with clear business cases.

8. Vendor, Budget, and Team Leadership

• Manage development partners, SaaS vendors, and agencies: contracts, SLAs, and commercial negotiation.
• Own the application budget, forecasting, and cost-to-serve optimisation.
• Lead and develop product managers, engineers, designers, and QA leads; build a strong in-house capability.
• Foster a culture of ownership, experimentation, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or IT (Master's or MBA preferred).
• 12-15+ years of experience in software or digital product delivery, with at least 5 years leading teams and customer-facing platforms at scale.
• Proven track record launching and scaling mobile and web applications with measurable business results.
• Strong grounding in product management, agile delivery, and API/integration architecture.

Preferred certifications: Certified Scrum Product Owner/SAFe, PMP, AWS/Azure Solutions Architect, CISM/CISSP or equivalent security credential, ITIL 4.